Montana Pita Pit Employee Fired For Spitting On Customer's Food

A Pita Pit employee caught on video spitting on a customer's food has made front-page news in Missoula, Montana. The video shows an obviously pissed off employee arguing with a customer, then spitting into the customer's pita. The employee has since been fired, The Missoulian reports.

"It's 3 o'clock in the fucking morning and I want to go home!" the employee shouts in the video. "Do we look open to you?" (The altercation occurred Friday night; Pita Pit's Facebook page indicates it's open until 3 a.m. on Fridays.)

The real victims may be Pita Pit's owners, who write in a Facebook post they are shocked, saddened, and "mortified" by the spitting incident: "This is an owner-run store. We work here forty-plus hours per week, but we are not in during all hours of operation. This employee's behavior does not represent who we are as a family or a business. It also does not represent the Missoula community."

Pita Pit is located downtown near several bars and restaurants, and within walking distance of the University Of Montana. (I happen to live in Missoula, so please allow me to provide expert context.) Pita Pit's owners seem to suggest to The Missoulian the shop's late-night hours and proximity to nightlife are a reality they've dealt with before: "Butz said that owning a restaurant where many of the customers are intoxicated on alcohol is 'definitely challenging' at times."

I personally have sympathy for the owners here. Their restaurant is now synonymous with the worst kind of customer service—and it's extra unfortunate that the name Pita Pit is so close to Pita Spit.